


'til there was you

by Faye_Reynolds



Series: tumblr pairing/au prompts [39]
Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: M/M, Sentence Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22187002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faye_Reynolds/pseuds/Faye_Reynolds
Summary: Based on this prompt: “I think I may be slightly more drunk than I thought.”
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Series: tumblr pairing/au prompts [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/920394
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	'til there was you

Around his fifth glass of champagne, Gene thinks he ought to slow down.

They’ve still got a long train ride and countless stops before they each reach home, but one can only celebrate winning a war once, so he finishes the sixth glass and is poured another.

A familiar arm wraps its way slowly around his shoulder and at the same time, a familiar body aligns with his.

“Well Sledgehammah, we won the damn thing, what are you gonna do now?” 

Snafu asked, breath hot against the right side of Gene’s face.

Gene’s cheeks flush at either the completion of another glass of champagne or Snafu’s proximity. His brain was a bit too fuzzy at the moment to determine the cause, but he was grateful for both.

He turns his face, regretting it almost immediately because he had underestimated how close Snafu was and he was so close he could count the other man’s flecks of blue and green in his eyes.

“I-I’m not sure. There are things I’m supposed to do, things I need to do, and things I want to do.”

“Only one of those mattah, Sledge.”

Snafu looks at him directly, biting his bottom lip like he’s done since the day they met. It still drove Gene just as crazy as it did that day, perhaps more.

He swallows heavily, eyes locked onto Snafu’s lips.

“Yeah?” He whispers and leans close, wondering why he’s had so much to drink, and whether the success of the war or the alcohol or being so close to home has made him so bold. They’d all talked about it of course. Countless and endless conversations of “when I get home, I’m going to…” Somehow, though, at this moment, Gene can’t remember what either of them said and as his entire being shifts its focus solely on Snafu, he can’t be bothered to remember.

“All that mattahs is what ya want, Gene.” Snafu blinks slowly like he’s readjusting his line of sight to take a perfect shot.

Gene forgets where they are and the fact that they’re surrounded by strangers and friends alike, Snafu’s tipsy cajun drawl accenting his speech and making Gene drunker than he already his.

“So, Eugene Sledge, what is it that you _want_?”

Snafu’s so close, Gene feels the words on his lips before his brain registers what was asked of him.

He knows what he wants. What he’s wanted since he arrived in the Pacific, since he laid eyes on the tanned, sweaty, endless skin of the man beside, but he never dreamed that he would ever get what he wanted. Hell, he never dreamed he’d make it out of the war alive. Yet, here he was. Here they both were. Drunk, cheeks flushed, and leaning into one another as though they’d sooner melt into one another then pull apart.

Gene wants to kiss Snafu and do nothing else for the rest of his life.

He realizes he hasn’t answered Snafu and he notices the other man is still waiting patiently for an answer.

Gene wants Snafu. Plain and simple.

But something inside him stops him from pulling in closer. Something reminds him that he can’t have what he wants. That though he’s lost so much to the war and though he’s never had or will have someone know him so fully and deeply as the man beside him, he still can’t ignore the voice that says it can never be. Whoever said it’s better to have loved and lost than to never loved at all, was full of shit.

Gene could’ve gone his whole life without feeling like his heart was being ripped out of his chest as he pulls away from Snafu.

“I think I may be slightly more drunk than I thought.”

He watches as Snafu realizes Gene taken his out. Despite surviving hell, Gene was somehow still a coward. He’d taken an out rather than taken a risk and as Snafu pulls further away an unmistakable chill fills Gene’s chest.

Still Snafu smiles, small and fragile but still there, “Alright, Gene.”

The further Snafu draws away, the more Gene feels like he can’t breathe.

“Sna-,” Gene tries, voice breaking and breath racing.

“Don’t.” Snafu warns, strained vocals the only sign that Snafu was feeling the same way.

Snafu gets up and disappears among the crowd on the train.

Gene blinks harshly, fists burrowing into his eyes. His heart is racing, and breath is coming in fast and shallow.

He feels like he’s just missed something vital to his survival.

He grips his duffel bag beside him as his vision starts to blur.

He looks around for Snafu, but can see nothing as he blacks out.

* * *

Snafu spent the last of the train ride, in the back car, smoking cigarette after cigarette into the warm, humid air letting him know how close he was to getting to home. He could smell the Louisianan air get more prominent with every smoke he stubbed out.

His head was racing and he needed to gather himself before he could face Gene again. They had been so close that Snafu could taste the sweet-sourness of the champagne on Gene’s breath. He could see the want and need waring inside Gene’s eyes, along with something holding him back.

They were so close and Snafu couldn’t have cared if they were in front of the goddamn President himself. Nothing was going to stop him from kissing Gene.

Except for Gene himself.

_“I think I may be slightly more drunk than I thought.”_

Snafu’s heart sank and his vision had blurred slightly as he pulled away.

He needed to get away before he said something he’d regret. Gene didn’t want him and Snafu’s heart broke into pieces at that, but he couldn’t let Gene know. He couldn’t let him see because, despite every part of Snafu wanting to be with Gene for as long as he’d have him, he would rather have Gene as a friend than nothing at all.

Then Gene tries to stop him from leaving and Snafu isn’t sure if he can handle looking at Gene again and not closing the distance fully.

So, he says, “Don’t,” firmly and forces his way through the crowded cars until he finds a quiet corner where he can think.

He knows it’s cowardly, but he fought in the goddamn war. He can be cowardly now if he wants to.

“New Orleans! Approaching! Next Stop! New Orleans, Louisiana!”

Snafu jumps up. He hadn’t realized how long he’d spent chain-smoking in the back of a train car. Now he was pushing his way back to where he and Gene had set themselves up before the train reached the station. He only had so much time now before they split ways and Snafu was determined for them to part are good terms, not awkward ones.

Only, once he reaches where they were, Gene’s fast asleep against his duffle bag, oblivious to the world around him.

Snafu stares for a long minute before adjusting his side cap and hauling his own duffle onto his back.

Strangers and other soldiers mill passed him as the train reaches a stop, excitement, and desperation clinging in the air as they all return home.

But Snafu stands to the side, watching Gene sleep, innocent and peaceful, and something cements his feet to the ground.

He knows this is his stop, but he can’t tear his eyes away. He doesn’t want to leave Gene without saying goodbye. But then the image of Gene pulling away from him floods his thoughts and is that only thing he can see.

He readjusts the heavy bag on his back, feeling the weight of his world on his shoulders as he looks at Gene one last time.

He feels like he’s trudging through quicksand with each step he takes closer to the door.

Once he takes the final step of the train and onto the platform, he feels his chest tighten with an immense loss but he continues on.

If Gene had wanted anything to do with him, he could’ve found him on the train, not pulled away, said what he wanted…but he didn’t.

He’s halfway down the platform when he hears, “Last call! Last call for New Orleans, Louisiana! Last call!”

Though every step hurts him, Snafu keeps walking, determined to get as much space between him and Gene as possible.

“Next stop Montgomery, Alabama! Last call to board!”

He stops. His fingers itch and his feet are stuck to the platform. His heart is pounding, and he can’t see clearly through the saltwater threatening to escape from his eyes.

Suddenly, every memory of Gene flashes before his eyes. Every touch of his fingers either during combat or simply to get Snafu’s attention. The warmth of his breath when he spoke softly on all of the nights they couldn’t sleep. His smile and gentle laugh that spoke of the kind soul the war had tried to rob him of. The way he’d managed to captivate Snafu from the moment they locked eyes. Snafu had never wanted and loved someone so much in his life. And here he was literally walking away from Gene without telling him so.

Then, the train whistle blows and Snafu crashes to the ground.

The train was already headed down the platform and with it, Snafu’s heart.

He watches the large clouds of smoke disperse with paralyzed disinterest.

“I told you I was slightly more drunk than I thought I was.”

He hears a familiar voice declare from behind him and he gasps.

“I can’t believe you left me on that train.”

Snafu gets up slowly, afraid he’s officially lost his mind and when he turns around Gene won’t be there.

But he turns to see the familiar smile and soft gaze that’s haunted Snafu’s every spare thought.

Slowly, they’re drawn into one another’s space, like magnets moving through sand.

He feels Gene reach for his hand, fingers gently intertwining with his own.

He stares at their hands before looking back up with wide eyes and a wider smile.

“Did ya finally decide what it is ya want, Gene?”

He watches as Gene steps impossibly closer into his space and tenderly holds Snafu’s head in his hands.

“ _You._ ”

Gene closes the gap between them, lips only just grazing his own, but it’s enough to electrify Snafu’s entire body and send a whole host of shivers down his spine.

Gene pulls back as little as possible to hold his forehead against Snafu's, the intimacy of the action, reddening Snafu’s cheeks.

“ _Always you._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> surprise ThEReS NO TRAIN oF SaDNess AU


End file.
